The NSW Public Health Act 2010 contains requirements for child care facilities (early childhood education and care centres), which include that directors of child care facilities are to be provided with a vaccination certificate on enrolment of each child. Parliament has passed a Bill to amend the Public Health Act, including amendments to the section on responsibilities of child care facilities.

What do the changes mean?

The NSW Parliament passed a Bill to amend the Public Health Act 2010 to strengthen vaccination enrolment requirements in child care (also known as early childhood education and care). From 1 January 2018:

children who are unvaccinated due to their parent’s conscientious objection can no longer be enrolled in child care

it is an offence (with a penalty of 50 penalty units) for a principal to fail to comply with the child care vaccination enrolment requirements

it is an offence (with a penalty of 50 penalty units) for a person to forge or falsify a vaccination certificate.

Importantly, the vast majority of children will be unaffected by the changes as over 93% of children in NSW are fully vaccinated at one and five years of age (see HealthStatsNSW). When last measured in December 2015, parental conscientious objection affected only around 1.15% of children aged 0-7 years in NSW. Children who cannot be fully vaccinated due to a medical condition or who are on a recognised catch-up schedule will still be able to be enrolled upon presentation of the appropriate form signed by a medical practitioner.

The new requirements do not change other existing provisions. A register of the age appropriate vaccination documentation still needs to be maintained for each child (a register template is available at Strengthening vaccination requirements for child care) and in the event of specified vaccine preventable disease outbreak in a child care centre the public health officer can exclude children who are not vaccinated for that disease to protect them from infection and prevent them from passing diseases to others.

How does this differ from previous requirements?

Since 1 January 2014, NSW child care centres have been prevented under the Public Health Act 2010 from enrolling children unless approved documentation is provided that indicates that the child:

has a parent who has an objection to vaccination (the Interim Vaccination Objection Form for Enrolment in NSW Child Care Centres - now deleted).

The Interim Vaccination Objection Form for Enrolment in NSW Child Care Centres has been deleted and can no longer be accepted for the purposes of enrolling children in child care from 1 January 2018. To support the integrity of these changes, offences have been created for principals of child care centres who fail to comply with these requirements, and for people who forge or falsify vaccination records. NSW Health has worked closely with stakeholders to develop educational materials for parents and child care centres to support compliance.

What is enrolment?

Enrolment is the process of accepting and booking a guaranteed place for a child in a specific childcare centre for the first time involving completion of an enrolment form, provision of other documentation (i.e. birth certificate, proof of address, AIR Immunisation History Statement) and often payment of a deposit. Note: making a request for care, or placing a child on a waitlist, is not enrolment. Also, enrolment does not include the processes of committing an enrolled child to continued attendance in subsequent years at the same child care centre (sometimes known as 're-enrolment').

What if a child was enrolled before 1 January 2018?

Children who were enrolled prior to 1 January 2018 are not affected by the changed requirements.

No other form of documentation is acceptable (i.e. the Interim Vaccination Objection Form or Blue Book). The documents must be stored by the director in a secure location for 3 years, unless a child transfers to another child care centre.

Which vaccines must a child have to be fully vaccinated?

The NSW Immunisation Schedule sets out the age-appropriate vaccines for children and the AIR Immunisation History Statement will indicate if the child is up to date with their vaccinations.

What if a parent fails to provide the required documents from January 2018?

Principals of child care centres cannot enrol children if the required documents are not provided.

Which children are exempt from the new requirements?

children who are enrolled in formal schooling (for example, attending before and after school care both on school campuses or externally)

services providing education and care to children primarily on an ad hoc, temporary or casual basis (for example, crèches in shopping centres and gyms)

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children

The following classes of children are can be enrolled without the approved forms but directors of child care facilities must make reasonable efforts to ensure that parents provides the approved forms within 12 weeks from the date of enrolment in the child care facility:

those who are subject to a guardianship order under section 79A of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998

those who have been placed in out-of-home care

those who are being cared for by an adult who is not the child’s parent due to exceptional circumstances such as illness or incapacity

those who have been evacuated following a state of emergency (for example, a declared natural disaster).

Why have these changes been made?

These changes have been made to strengthen vaccination enrolment requirements in child care. In particular, they will:

send a strong public health message about the importance of vaccination

reinforce for the broader community the overwhelming scientific evidence that vaccination is safe and highly effective in preventing disease

help reduce the transmission of disease in certain geographical areas.

The changes will also align with national changes under the Australian Government’s No Jab No Pay initiative that removed the conscientious objection exemption in determining eligibility for child care and family assistance payments.

Do parents still have a choice to vaccinate their children?

Yes. Vaccination is not compulsory and parents will continue to have the choice whether or not to vaccinate their child. However, conscientious objectors can no longer enrol their children in child care and will need to make alternative arrangements.

Are unimmunised children able to enrol in child care after 1 January 2018?

The only unimmunised children who can be enrolled in child care after 1 January 2018 are those who are on a recognised catch-up schedule (provided that the appropriate documentation has been provided), or those who are unimmunised due to medical reasons as described in the Australian Immunisation Handbook) (provided that the appropriate documentation has been provided), or children who are too young to be immunised (under 2 months of age).

Children who are unimmunised for a disease may be asked to stay at home if there is an outbreak of that vaccine preventable disease in a child care centre.

What if a child was vaccinated overseas?

Overseas immunisation records must not be accepted by child care centres. The overseas immunisation records need to be assessed by an Australian immunisation provider who will transfer the information to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR). Parents can then request an AIR Immunisation History Statement.

No. Child care centres are not required to transfer AIR Immunisation History Statements or exemption documentation to primary school principals when a child leaves a child care centre, however they must retain the information for 3 years.

How are the new requirements being enforced?

New offences have been created to ensure that principals only enrol children for whom the appropriate forms have been provided, and that these forms have not been forged or falsified, with fines up to $5,500.

This is in addition to the current regulatory activities undertaken by the Department of Education under the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations.

Who can I contact for more information?

More information about the new requirements is available by contacting your local Public Health Unit on 1300 066 055.